“I had a talent”
Bonhof’s most important pass initiated World Cup victory
03/29/2022 10:56 am
He won three titles as a national player, unnerved Liverpool’s goalkeeper and is still a Borussia legend today: Rainer Bonhof. On his 70th birthday he explains why he owes a lot of his personality to his wife and why he says: “Gerd is a part of me.”
He shot faster than Wyatt Earp and was the only national player to win three titles, but Rainer Bonhof was remembered primarily for one assist. His pass initiated the winning goal in the 1974 World Cup final, and Bonhof felt connected to shooter Gerd Müller throughout his life. “Gerd is a part of me,” says Bonhof, who turns 70 today. He visited Müller, who was suffering from Alzheimer’s, shortly before his death.
Bonhof will also be able to tell the story of the most important moment in his career on his birthday, which he is celebrating with old companions. On his 65th day of honor he had to pass, the day before he had heart surgery. Now the vice-president of Borussia Mönchengladbach is in top form and wants to toast, despite the sporting crisis in his heart club.
Bonhof’s teacher in Emmerich had predicted that the rascal would have a career as a street sweeper, and the car buff almost became a racing driver, but he found happiness in football. “I had a talent and used it mercilessly,” he says in retrospect.
Cocoa is at the very beginning
And how: Only Bonhof has won three major titles with Germany (EM 1972 and 1980, World Cup 1974). With “his” Borussia he was also German champion four times (1971, 1975, 1976, 1977), won the UEFA Cup (1975) and in 1973 against his later employer 1. FC Köln the DFB Cup, also with FC Valencia European Cup Winners’ Cup (1980).
It all started in Mönchengladbach in 1970 – also thanks to a hot drink. At the first meeting with Hennes Weisweiler, Bonhof ordered a cocoa. “It tasted divine. That’s when I succumbed. That was a point that made me fall over,” revealed Bonhof in the WDR podcast “Einfach Fußball”. Hamburg and Bochum had also previously expressed an interest.
“Become Rainer again”
Long-distance shots and goals that were like a line became Bonhof’s trademarks. “He shoots faster than Wyatt Earp!” complained Liverpool goalkeeper Ray Clemence after a UEFA Cup game in the early 1970s. As early as 1978, television dedicated a 45-minute portrait to Bonhof. Title: “The Blonde Who Came After Netzer.” He ended his career with rivals Cologne, with whom he has close ties to this day, and Hertha BSC.
As a coach, Bonhof was assistant to national coach Berti Vogts for many years and also worked in Kuwait and Scotland. But Borussia always played a dominant role in his life: “I’ve always come back to Mönchengladbach. This is my home, this is my home.”
Bonhof has remained down-to-earth to this day, even if his submission to Müller almost changed that. “I was world champion and floated in a different sphere. Then my girlfriend said: Become Rainer again. So I decided that I would go back to normal. That was one of the most important victories.” True enough: Rainer Bonhof is still married to his then girlfriend Roswitha.